Unit-6 Sales Presentation.pdf

8/22/2019 Unit-6 Sales Presentation.pdf

1/17

Sales Presentation

UNIT 6 SALES PRESENTATIONObjectives

The objectives of the unit are to:

define what is a presentation and describe types of sales presentations,

describe the structure of a presentation,

identify in detail each of the variables affecting effective presentation strategy and

elaborate how to develop appropriate presentation skills.

Structure

6.1 Introduction

6.2 What is a Presentation

6.3 Types of Sales Presentations

6.4 T ical Structure of a Presentation6.4.1 Opening or Introduction of a Presentation

6.4.2 Body of Presentation

6.4.3 Ending of Presentation

6.4.4 Question and Answer Period,

6.5 Planning the Presentation Strategy6.5.1 Define the Purpose

6.5.2 Analysing the Audience

6.5.3 Developing Message

6.5.4 Determination of Presentation Method

6.5.5 Deciding the Presentation Media

6.6 Presentation Skills6.6.1 Personal Aspects

6.6.2 Non-Verbal Behaviour

6.6.3 Oral Delivery6.7 Principles of Effective Presentation

6.8 Summary

6.9 Key Words6.10 Self Assessment uestions6.11 Further Readings

6.1 INTRODUCTION

"You can have excellent content with good presentation technique and win the

business.,You can have good content with excellent presentation technique and win.

But you may not have ever heard of a poor presentation skills and good or excellent

contents winning anything".

Poor presentations are consistently losers irrespective of purpose or the business for

which a presentation is made. We will draw some lessons from winning presentations

and some from losers to help you to plan your business presentation successfully.In our daily routine we speak more often than write. A majority of us still have not

overcome the fear of a speaking to a group. Each one of us have stage-fright. It is a

matter of degrees that it varies amongst individuals. Yet an oral presentation is an

important part of the business routine and each one has to deal with such challenges

successfully. There are industries in which sales presentations are the most important

marketing tools. Pharmaceutical industry, information technology industry,

advertising agencies, insurance sector are some examples of the same where success

in business depends on the success in presentation.

6.2 WHAT IS A PRESENTATION

A presentation is a commitment by the presenter to help the audience to do

something for solving a problem. An interesting thing to note is that in a presentation

commitments are made by the presenter and the audiences are making judgement,

simultaneously. The presenter advocates and audience evaluate, to render a verdict.In

terms of content and structure, presentations and speeches have a good deal in

common with formal reports - many of them are oral version of a written document. 25


2/17

26

Selling Skills: 6.3 TYPES OF SALES PRESENTATIONS

Typically, all sales people use one of the following types of sales presentations.

Canned Presentation

Canned presentations are those presentations where text of the presentation is

carefully worded, tested and finally written down. Each sales person is expected to

memorise it and strictly follow the contents in the defined order, while making apresentation.

This presentation method is most commonly used in non-technical product selling,

like, Pharmaceuticals, telephone selling, door to door selling, etc.

The specific advantages of this technique are that one can finish the presentation in a

short-time and still have a successful close. The other advantage of this method is

that it require lesser time in training the field sales personnel.

The disadvantage of such technique is that the prospect has limited participation. He

might view it, as a high pressure selling and defer taking a purchase decision.

Planned Presentation

It is, no doubt carefully planned and organised but still it has a personal touch of the

individual making the presentation. In this method, the training department provides

just a format and the individual sales person then writes explanations, descriptions

and illustrations.

The advantage of this presentation method is that it appears more conversational and

less formal, as the sales person is using his own wordings. As a result, in this

presentation method the prospect also gets involved and his doubts and questions can

be carefully handled.

Audio-Visual Presentation

For such presentation the sales persons heavily depend on the AV aids. These aids

range from charts, slides, video films, prototypes, computer based presentations to

the use of actual product. In advertising industry, computer software industry, such

presentation methods are used. In these presentations the speaker or the sales person

takes the back ,seat and the prospect's attention remains centred around the AV aids.

Such aids are typically used, not only to gain the attention but in the absence of these

it might be difficult to explain or demonstrate.

Take for example, in door-td-door selling of vacuum-cleaners or photocopying

machines, where'the actual product is used as a integral or central 'character' of the

presentation. In the absence of which the sales person might find it difficult to sell.

Problem Solving Presentation

This is a two-step presentation method. The first stage is to study the individual

prospect's needs and the second is suggesting a proposition. Thus helping the

prospect to solve the problem. Such method is commonly used in insurance sector

where the insurance agent ask the prospect about the requirements and accordingly,

he proposes a specific policy, its advantages and benefits.

Similar methods are also used in management consultancy assignments relating to all

functions or high-tech customised products.

Having understood the various types of presentation methods being following in

different product categories, we appreciate the relevance of it in the sales job. Let us

now systematically discuss the structure of a typical presentation, presentation

strategy and the skills required at the end of each speaker.


3/17

27

Sales Presentation6.4 TYPICAL STRUCTURE OF A PRESENTATION

It is a problem for a person to structure the presentation appropriately so as to clearly

decide from where to start and where to end. A presentation has four parts: opening,

body, closing and question and answer. It is suggested that in a presentation first, tell

what you will tell, secondly, actually tell them and thirdly, tell the audience what you

have told them.

6.4.1 Opening or Introduction of a Presentation

The opening of a presentation is very important. It is in the first a few minutes you

gain or lose the audience. The major purpose of the introduction are:

To catch the audience attention and arouse their interest

To relate the speakers' purpose with the audience interest

To build the focus for the contents

Although these points appear so simple, but spending say ten per cent time of your

presentation on this phase of the presentation would help you considerably in

providing clarity to your audience.

6.4.2 Body of Presentation

The body of the presentation should relate to the selected important points (3-4) you

want to make. You want the structure of your presentation to be clear and you don't

want to lose the audience's attention.

At Times, during your presentation you realise that you have started loosing

audience. From their body-language you an able to make out that they are not with

you. Some of body positions suggesting their lack of attention are shown in figure 1

Figure 1: Audience Lack of Interest Reflected in Their Body Language


4/17

28

Selling Skills:

These situations are, infact, difficult to handle. Because, in such situations, there is no

point to keep the presentation continued. You have to adopt a strategy to gain their

attention. Some of the suggestions far gaining audience attention are as follows:

Emphasising structure and help the audience follow your presentation by

summarising your remarks as you go along and by Emphasising the transition

(links) from one idea to the next.

Holding the audience's attention not only by relating the subject to the audience's

needs or by using clear language but by introducing variety in your speech orpresentation.

You may pause for questions and comments as it shifts the audience from

listening to participating.

Visual aids can be used to provide clarification and stimulation.

Variety in your tone and gestures will help in breaking the monotony of your

voice.

Consider the use of humour. Sometimes humour helps in stearing through

difficult situations.

It is interesting to observe that when you are going deeper into the subject, the

audience start drifting away from you. It is rather difficult to retain the audienceattention through-out the presentation, unless you make deliberate efforts. The above

stated points are some of the suggestions which can help you in retaining your

audience or customers.

6.4.3 Ending a Presentation

As the audience's attention peaks at this stage it helps in further clarity. The final

summing is not a place to introduce new ideas. It is suggested that you should begin

your conclusions by telling listeners that you are about to finish . They will make one

final effort to listen to you, intently. It is also suggested that during the concluding

stage restate the next step. Some presentations require the audience to reach a

decision or to take specific action. In these cases the summing must cover the specificaction to occur and who would be responsible for doing what. Take for example, in a

sales presentation sales person may be required to ensure on-time delivery and

installation. Thereafter, the final installment of the payment will be made by the

customer.

Your final words should round tip the presentation. You want to leave the audience

with a satisfied feeling, feeling of completeness. It is, therefore, important that you

should always end on a positive note. Your final remarks should be enthusiastic and

memorable.

Irrespective of whether you accept questions, as you go along or you defer them till

the end, this phase of a presentation is most important. It is only helps in providing

better clarity but also in removing some misconceptions, if any, among you audience,

about your product or company.

6.4.4 Question and Answer Period

Majority of the speakers avoid or discourage this period, without realising that

providing opportunity for questions and answers, facilitates interactions. The thumb

rule is. to encourage questions throughout, in a smaller group and ask a large

audience to defer questions until later. But do provide time for this stage as it shifts

the audience from listening to participating.

Some tips for Landing Questions:

Given below are some categories of questions. You may decide in which category the

question falls and then take action accordingly. Although it is not possible to

remember these tips, but by practice you learn to handle critical situations:


5/17

29

Sales PresentationSr.No. Type of Question How to Handle

1. Confused Question Reformulate/Paraphrase the question. Ask the

questioner to restate the question. It also gives you

time to think and it can be followed by all. Be clear,

a confused question can never be answered.

2. Hostile Question Don't be defensive or hostile. Rephrase it and unload

emotions from it to understand the message.

3. Two-part Question Separate the parts and prioritise them before

answerin .4. Off Topic Question Suggest the audience that you would not handle an

off topic question.

5. Can't Answer Question Admit it and say that you would answer it later. You

may not be authorised to take a decision about the

question. Take time from the audience, check with

your superior, and get-back.j

Activity 1

Try to recollect a presentation you heard or you made yourself. Identify the contents

of that presentation, under opening, body and closing. Check, if they were

appropriately arranged or not.

.........................................................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................................................

6.5 PLANNINGTHE PRESENTATION ST TEGY

Developing a strategy for delivering an oral message is just as crucial as developing a

strategy for a written message. You have to put information in an easily

understandable form. For maximum impact, therefore, it is important that one mustdefine the purpose, analyse the audience, construct or develop the message with due

estimate of time and appropriate length, decide on the most appropriate style and

media for presentation. These are some of the important variables, which one has to

keep in mind to develop an appropriate strategy for a presentation.

6.5.1 Define the Purpose

The first reason of failure in a presentation is not thinking through the purpose of the

presentation and focussing it sharply. The amount of audience interaction varies from

presentation to presentation, depending on the speaker's purpose. Often a speaker

accomplishes more than one purpose simultaneously. The purpose of a presentation

could vary from informing, persuading, exploring to changing behaviour/attitude etc.The specific purposes for a presentation are:

a)

b)

c)

To motivate: you do most of the talking and the audience essentially plays a

passive role. You control the content of the message and the audience listen.

Here the challenge is not to giving information but giving in a manner for a

response.

To inform or analyse: A group of people meet to hear the oral equivalent of a

written report, then members of the audience offer comments or ask questions.

Typically when a medical representative meets a doctor, the purpose is to inform

about the new formulation his company has launched in the market.

To persuade or collaborate: The most interaction occurs when you aim to persuade

people to take a particular action or to collaborate with them to solve a problem or

reach a decision. You generally begin to provide facts to increase the audience's

understanding of the subject. You offer arguments in defence during discussion and


6/17

you invite audience to express their needs. In this audience interaction process,

therefore you have little control, so one has to be flexible to adjust to an

unexpected reaction. Most sales persons, involved in door-to-door selling (like,

Eureka Forbes etc.) must have this purpose when they call on a household.

30

Selling Skills:

a)

b)

c)

6.5.2 Analysing the Audience

Your choice of a strategy for composition your purpose must take into account those

who will be attending it. The nature of the audience affects your strategy for

achieving your purpose. You should know your audience and size them up inadvance. You must look for characteristics that will affect your speech e.g., audience

size, sex, age, education and knowledge. More specially, consider the followings in

as much detail as possible.

First consider the size and composition of the audience. A small group may be

drawn into a decision making process. A homogeneous group benefits from a

focussed presentation; a diverse group requires a more generalised approach. So

be sure of the size of the group to which you are going to address.

Consider likely reactions to your speech or presentation. The reactions to your

speech could be hostile, receptive, indifferent. It is easy to talk to a receptive

group. It is also possible to convert indifference into interest. It is quite

challenging to convert hostility into support. But be clear that whether the

audience care about the issues you will discuss and how much they already

know about your subject.

Finally, you need to take a cold hard look at their relationship with you. Do they

already know you? Do they respect your judgement?

The answer to these points would help deciding the best way to organize your

material.

Activity 2

Assume that you are working for an organisation in "Information Technology". You

think that a particular medium size company might have the requirements of your

company's hardware, software and maintenance services. What specific informationyou would require about this company to develop an appropriate sales presentation.

.........................................................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................

6.5.3 Developing Message

A message should be carefully developed with a view to generating a desired

response. It is, therefore, important that while developing messages one should define

the main idea, construct an outline and estimate the appropriate length. A number of

times a speaker is required to carefully choose the words, particularly while handling

sensitive subjects. In such situations if you loose control on what you speak, your

message will not be understood in the right spirit. It is, therefore, important that we

define the main idea and construct a concrete outline around the identified idea. Then

collect sufficient information which should be adequate for the available time you

have to make the presentation.

At times, you collect a whole lot of information but you fail to put it together in an

appropriate order. There are specific guidelines available to arrange the material in

suitable order. It is suggested to follow the "Inverted Pyramid" structure. The

suggestion is that you should start with the most important point and then go down to

the least or, start with conclusion and go down to back-up information or start with a

general statement and go down to specifics. Any one of these options would guideyou in sequencing the information.

Although it appears simple but actually it is not. One has to decide and

compartmentalise information in various groups, sequence them and then present.


7/17

31

Sales PresentationHaving decided the sequencing of information for developing an appropriate

message, the next step is how to deliver it. Knowing your abilities, time available for

preparation, audience size, etc., would influence your presentation method.

6.5.4 Determination of Presentation Method

We may follows any of the following presentation methods depending on our own

abilities, subject, purpose, etc.

1. Extemporaneous Extemporaneous presentation is that which is prepared in

advance and delivered afresh. The exact wordings are figured

out, as the speaker goes along. It combines prior organisation

and spontaneity. The audience prepare an outline, may write

down, at best, full opening and closing sentences, and prepare

visual aids to promote a set sequence of thoughts and contents.

2. Impromptu Impromptu is that when you are given no time to think and

organise.You never know when your superior will ask you for a

two minute update on your field experiences of the previous

day.

3. Memorising Memorised is a presentation which is learnt by heart. If a link isbroken while speaking the whole presentation gets affected.

Typically in Pharma-selling canned presentation are used.

4. Reading Reading is yet another method. In paper reading it is said that

even the speaker looks at his. notes for 35% of time and for the

remaining 65% to the audience, it is still a paper-reading. In

business this method is followed least.

5. Speaking from

Notes

Speaking from notes is similar to the first method with a

difference that the speaker has his points, with explanations

written down and he speaks from the notes. To prepare these

notes normally reference cards are used which the speaker can

hold in one hand.

There is no hard and fast rule suggesting in which situation what method should be

used. As a speaker it is up to you to decide which method is the best suited for you in

the given situations. But you must practice it in advance before making a

presentation.

6.5.5 Deciding the Presentation Media

In an oral presentation which is an interactive medium, you can choose from a wide

range of audio-visual (AV) materials. Here also you require carefully planning. A

number of times, a presentation gets killed because of over emphasis on AV material.

Always keep in mind while selecting any AV material that to what extent the selectedmedia would help supplementing or reinforcing your message. You can select audio-

visual material out of a large variety, ranging from, brochures, leaflets, slides,

prototypes, actual product, audio tapes, video material, computer based aids, etc.

Preparing or it is suggested to follow the following guidelines for selecting the best

suited media:

Do not cram information if you have too much to say, may be you should write

it out, seperately.

Keep only relevant material as irrelevancies create distractions, and confusions.

Organise and break up your material into small modules. Dis-organised

compells the audience to concentrate on finding the structure of your presenting,

rather than listening to you.

Visualise your ideas as much as possible. Understanding, rememberance and

clarity are the highest in the picture form.


8/17

Use as few words as possible. Use only those points which the audience can

understand, and don't write complete sentences.

32

Selling Skills:

Make the pictures and letters bright enough to be visible from a distance. Make

the letters bright enough and think enough to be read by all. Use light colour for

background. Use dark or bright colours for pictures or letters to improve

visibility.

Make the sound material audable, pleasing in tone, varied and synchronised with

visuals.

Finally, before the presentation check particularly the audibility, risibility and

readability of your AV material, if possible, in the actual place of presentation.

6.6 PRESENTATION SKILLS

All preparations on the 'structure' and'strategy

'of your presentation will have limited

impact on your customers or audience if you don't have the right presentation skills.

For example, it is very important that you should be able to have control on yourself.

The moment you rise to speak you convey some.signals to yourself, which might

decide ultimately the success or failure of your presentation.

6.6.1 Personal Aspects

A logical step in preparing a presentation is to analyse yourself. You are an integral

part of the message. You should seek following characteristics:

i)ii)iii)

iv)

i)

ii)iii)

Sincerity is vital. Project an image of sincerity by being sincere to yourself, to

your subject and to your audiences.

Thoroughness - giving the listeners all they need.

Confidence in yourself is important so as to gain your audience's confidence.

You must earn the confidence of your audiences. Project the right image, and

talk in a strong, clear voice.Friendliness - help your communication effort by creating the right environment.

Although these four points appear as four different things. But they do relate to each

other. For example, if you are'sincere' you would do a

'thorough

'preparation for your

presentation. If you are 'thorough' you would feel confident. And if you are confident,

you would be more open and friendly with your prospects or audiences. Therefore,

these personal aspects should be well taken care.

6.6.2 Non-Verbal Behaviour

In any presentation non-verbal also plays a major role to supplement your message.

Let us take up some typical examples to identify the variables elements of non verbalcommunication.

Although, it is not all that easy to suggest a definite set of`Do

's' about your body

language during presentations, however, one can easily identify some `Don'ts'. If you

carefully notice the six body language shown in figure, you may realise that,

typically, most speakers make some of these mistakes. Let us analyse each of the six

situations in some detail, for better clearity about them.

Readeris a person who doe snot make eye contact with the audience and only

concerned about his material. Such speakers fail to establish any wave-length

with the audience.

Weaklingis a speaker who does not know the utility of Lactorn, which is fact,

is the support for the speaker's materials and not the speaker himself.

Gripperis a speaker who does not make any attempt to supplement the

message; rather he/she is only bothered about the verbal part of the message.


9/17

33

Sales Presentationiv)

v)

vi)

Musicianis a speaker who does not adapt the gestures to the contents of the

presentation but continuously relaying these, which does not relate. The

suggestion is that one should-bring some variation is the gestures.

Bon-Voyageris a speaker who is overdoing the gestures; as a result the

presentation becomes more theatric. The suggestion is that in a typical business

presentation the hands should not go above the shoulder level.

Paceris a speaker who is, although relaxed but still not too sure about

movements, postures and gestures. The suggestion is that think before hand,about how to stand, where stand, where to move to, how often to move, etc.

Figure 2: Non-Verbal inPresentations

The above illustrations must have given you. some idea about the importance of non-

verbal forms, including body language. Let us now exanune each element of the non-

verbal communication in the context of a presentation.

Posture

Sagging shoulders, dropped head forward and sloppy casualness are indicative of

depression, while standing upright with square shoulders and head held high are

indicative of the confidence. Your outword appearance mirrors your inner mood.


10/17

34

Selling Skills:

Posture may also be adopted to the size of the audience. An informative talk to a

group of 50+ size would demand more formality, postural variety, particularly during

transitions, to suggest a change in topic. An address to a group of 10-12 managers

working under you, could be given while sitting in the edge of the chair. However, all

formal presentations in advertising industry or I.T. industry are typically given while

standing.

To avoid side-to-side rock some women even prefer low heals for longer duration

presentations. Choice of a comfortable pair of shoes helps avoiding conveying anegative, allat-ease impressions because your shoes are bothering you. Giving

thought to such minor details can help you in making a winning presentation.

Movements

While presenting a topic, your physical movements can help you in the following ways:

To hold attention: Lectern restricts movement. Rather than moving back and

forth it is suggested to move left to right to gain attention of the audience, sitting

on both sides. However, don't move continuously, like a caged lion.

To get rid of nervousness: Movement helps decreasing stage fright in the

beginning of your talk and the way you walk upto lectern or podium, tells

something about you non-verbally to the audiences. Do you move with

assurance, determination and enthusiasm? However, over-enthusiasm is also not

productive.

To suggest transitions: In writing, the cues for transition are headings, words,

numerical hints. In speaking, the cues are physical moving yourself, a

directional shift in the posture helps, the audience to follow the transition.

To increase emphasis: In writing we underline, we use italics, capitals,

exclamation etc. While in speaking a movement towards the audience,

accompanied by a gesture, can imply your stressing a point.

The above discussion clearly suggests that plan your movements and don't just walk

around when you make a presentation.

Gestures

Gestures relate to movements of fingers, palm, wrist, arm, elbow and shoulder. Here

are some examples of situations where gestures can help you.

1. To emphasise Clenched fist of one hand hitting the palm of the

other hand emphasises the point you want to make.

2. To point The index finger calls attention of the audience

3. To reject Hand may go on a side in an act of rejection.

4. To describe You may communicate and describe everything

through hands. Even an approximation of the

verbal message through gestures is worthwhile than

non.

From the last three illustrations, in figure lit can be inferred that planning of gestures,

apart from postures, movements, are all important. If gestures are important, as you

donot want to look like the `gripper'or the `weakling' there are some suggestions.

The first suggestion is that start involving only one hand but with variations. In the

figure 3 options have been illustrated. Each gestures have specific meaning to

convey. For example. `the air pulse' can be used when you are about to open the

various issues relating to a problem, `the raised forefinger' can be used to emphasise,

`the air grasp' can be used for summarisation, etc.


11/17

35

Sales Presentation

The second suggestion is to use both the hand to supplement your message. For

example, `the hand scissors' can be used when you are rejecting a point, `the palm

side' can be used to suggest the magnitude of the problem,`the palm in front' can be

used to explain. `the palm up'for opening of the discussions and `the palm down' for

closing, as shown in figure 4


12/17

Eye Contract

36

Selling Skills:

It is suggested that you should have eye contact with your audience. Although, it is

not possible to have eye contact with each and every person sitting amongst the

audience but it is suggested that you may identify, select persons sitting spread across

amongst the audience and establish eye contact with them. Don't look at one person

all the time. Eye contact helps you in gaining confidence in yourself and it also

conveys to the audience that whatever you are saying, you are very sure of it.

Facial Expressions

It is said that rather having a "cheese" smile all the time, your facial expressions

should be natural. It is also said that the smile which comes on your face actually

originates in your brain on recollecting something pleasant. You can easily build

rapport with your audience using good, natural pleasant facial expressions.

From the above illustrations let us now refer to some common observations, as

shown in figure 5.

You must have experience yourself, if you are nervous, the gestures don't flow out of

you an you try to bring control to yourself. Here the facial expression also reflectseriousness.

If you are confident your facial expressions correspond with the contents, gestures

are natural and illustrative and you maintain a definite eye contact with your audience

You might have also seen in a presentation that people respond differently to

questions. There are some who reflect dominant attitude through their facial

expressions, position of hands,while others, with the same non-verbal communicate

openness, and euthuasism to respond.

With the help of these illustrations we have tried to explain to you that in any

presentations, your body-language is an integral part of your presentation. We havealso seen that how one can plan the body-language for the presentation. If you are

able to incorporate only 20 percent of the above, you would still notice a marked

improvement in your presentation skills. Therefore, each speaker must give due

attention to his or her non-verbal, the way they give to the verbal contents.


13/17

37

Sales Presentation

6.6.3 Oral Delivery

How confident, you appear through your voice, how effective you become through

the use of your voice, how successful you emerge, by speaking clearly and holding

the attention of your audience are the issues related to the oral delivery. Every aspect

of the oral delivery, i.e., rate, pitch, volume, vocal quality, etc., all are important.

Pitch:It is highness or lowness of your voice. Voice too high or low can add to

word value. A monotonuous voice may drift the audience away from the speaker

i)ii)

iii)

iv)

v)

Rate:It relates to the number of words released per minutes. The purpose is to

synchronising speaking with listening pattern of the audience. The rate should

also relate to the subject matter. Often you might have felt that if you speak a

sentence at a higher rate you can create a better impact.

Volume:It relates to the loudness or softness of the voice and by contrast in

volume one can give emphasis on the spoken words.

Vocal Quality:It is difficult to define it but we come across so many words to

describe voice quality. Some of these words which describe voice quality are:

Throaty, loud, vibrant, dynamic, moving, weak, strong, harsh, shrill,

effeminative, gentle, clear, flexible vibrant, colourful, etc.

Pronunciation:It should be your constant endeavour to find out the right

pronunciations of each word. You may not get any advantage for correct

pronunciation but you are certainly at in disadvantage when it is incorrect. You

would be surprised to know, how carefully your audience are observing your

mistakes, and on every mistake they drift away from you.

There are some suggestions to help you in enhancing your non-verbal while you

speak to a group. These suggestions are:

Sincerely like your audience

Know your subject thoroughly in order to appear confident

Be well dressed (not overdressed)

Look your listeners in the eye (Not too long at any one) and talk with them

Avoid excessive, meaningless, gestures and nervous movements

Keep calm

Remain objective, no matter what the provocation

Speak clearly and pleasantly, make sure that you can be easily heard


14/17

Activity 3

38

Selling Skills:

Observe in any one presentation the non-verbal of the speaker under postures,

Movements, Gestures, Eye Contact, Facial Expressions, and Oral delivery. Against

each item give scores out of ten. Check your evaluation with another person.

.........................................................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................................................

6.7 EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION: SOME PRINCIPLES-

Ron Hoff, a hard core advertising professional, head of Ron Hoff and Associates,

based on his presentations to the clients, has suggested some basic guidelines for

effective presentation. Let's discuss these, eight, real-life principles of presentation

that make a measurable, meaningful difference in the success of your presentation.

Rule Description

1 In preparing your presentation, may be you should start about halfway through.

2 Content is always the first requirement of any presentation. Once content

breaks down, delivery is never far behind.

3 It's impossible to be too clear.4 Keep in mind that your audience is going to remember about one quarter of

what you say.

5 Participation by your audience will help them remember you and your

message, but "handle with care". Participation can backfire.

6 Nervousness is not all bad, but it can become serious when your audience

becomes more concerned about your nerves than your subject.

7 Eye contact is the strongest force in your favour during a "Live" presentation.

8 "People may lie, but body language never does".

Source: Ron Hoff, "How to Make Your Next Presentation a Winner", In,Strategic

Advertising Campaigns by Don E. Schultz. (Illinois: NTC Business Books, 1996).

6.7.1 Start Ralf Way

In preparing your presentation, may be you should start about halfway through. There

isn't an audience in the world that hasn't said to itself, "When is the presenter going to

stop talking about his business and start about mine". So instead of "Opening

Remarks", why not structure your outline to begin with,"an issue of direct concem to

my audience". The sooner you can stop being self-conscious and start being

audience-conscious, the better your chances of winning a positive verdict.

6.7.2 Plan Out Content

Content is always the first requirement of any presentation. Once content breaks

down, delivery is never far behind. If you don't know your subject, your voice is

going to tighten. If you don't believe what you are saying, your gestures are going to

be halfhearted. If you get a question that catches you unprepared, your body language

is going to answer for you. How much substance do you need in order to feel

supremely confident about your next presentation? The answer is, have in your head

about seven times as much information as you are likely to use in your presentation.

Know your subject better than anybody in the room and your delivery may not be

magnificent, but it will carry conviction - and that's better than empty theatrics any

day.

6.7.3 Clarity

It's impossible to be too clear. Many presentations are so muddled that members of

the audience say to themselves, "What in the world is that person talking about?" or,

"What on earth am I doing here?"


15/17

39

Sales Presentation

i)

ii)iii)iv)

Here is a simple but effective exercise: Ask yourself "If I were going to put a fifteen-

word headline on my presentation, what would it say?" Isolate the meat of what you

want to communicate and make sure you say it - clearly, prominently. Also ask

yourself, "What do I really want my audience to do as a result of this presentation?

6.7.4 Partial Receptivity

Keep in mind that your audience is going to remember about one quarter of what you

say. A surprising number of presenters will assume that once a statement is made, the

audience retains it. Iii reality, an average audience retains approximately 25 per cent

of a presentation if the verbal content is given visual reinforcement (slides, charts,

videotapes). If the presenter is simply standing there, going through a manuscript,

flooding the atmosphere with words, he or she will be lucky to have one tenth of the

total message retained by the audience.

So what do you do about it? May be you would like to "tell them what you are going

to tell them - tell them - then tell them what you told them", i.e., put your proposition

up and keep referring to it. It is not that audiences have poor memories, it is simply

that presenters assume that audience have perfect memories.

6.7.5 Encourage Participation

Participation by your audience will help them remember you and your message, but

"handle with care". Participation can backfire. You, the presenter, can ask you-

audience to do almost anything. Most audiences are surprisingly agreeable. They will

do almost anything. Nonetheless, a few words of caution.

Study your audience carefully before you get up to present.

Look for the most animated people in your audience to be your participators.

Never force anybody to participate if you detect even a hint of reluctance

Never allow anybody to look bad.

Participation by your audience can nuke your unforgettable but just make sure that it

does not backfire.

6.7.6 Control Nervousness

Nervousness is not all bad, but it can become serious when your audience becomes

more concerned about your nerves than your subject. Nervousness is the number one

problems of people who make important presentations in advertising, or in any other

business. But nervousness (sometimes known as "stage freight"), is not all bad. There

are ways to deal with it, and some of them can actually work.

Take a brisk 2-minute walk, It can be around the block, through the halls, or

anywhere you want to walk. Exercise of any kind breaks the strain that creates

nervousness.

Look at yourself in a minor and check your appearance. Nothing's out of place

and you look like you want to look. That reduces anxiety.

Next, take five deep breaths. Deep breathing always calms the nervous system.

Ask anybody who has hypertension, about the results of deep breathing.

Tell yourself that your presentation has one goal only: to genuinely help the

audience. That uncomplicates your mind and keeps the focus clear.

6.7.7 Eye Contact

Eye contact is the strongest force* in your favour during a "Live" Presentation. When

you make your next presentation, you will know whether you are making eye contact

or not because you can see your audience. Here are three fundamentals on eye

contact that,will benefit your next presentation:


16/17

40

Selling Skills: i)

ii)

iii)

Don't set any specific length of time to maintain eye contact with one person.

Stay only as long as it is comfortable for both people.

Eye contact should be broken by natural pauses in meaning -- between phrases -

- or thoughts. Eye contact usually breaks most comfortably at punctuation

points.

There is a big difference between staring at people and eye contact. Staring is

intimidating, confrontational. Eye contact reduces the distance between people.

It reaches out, asks for understanding on a one-to-one basis. `

6.7.8 Body Language

"People may lie, but body language never does." Body language, once you have

learned how to read it, is going to tell you more than what your audience will say.

You can rate people by their body language, and use your ratings to apportion the

amount of time you spend with each member of your audience. Obviously, you will

want to work a little harder -- with eye contact and participation techniques -- on the

person who is scoring low on your body language scale.

6.8 SUMMARY

To summarise the discussion on the structure of a presentation, we can say that the

first thing in any presentation is the preparation you do in advance. You research the

information, club the information under subtopics, subheads etc., sequence these

subheads appropriately. You identify specifically what you would say in the opening

section of your presentation, you decide the core i.e., the main body and you also

plan your closing remarks. You have not started speaking to your audience but you

have spent considerable time in preparing. In fact, those who overlook this phase they

find it difficult to make a winning presentation.

While developing any presentation you have to progress very systematically. Each of

the strategic variables should be considered in as much detail as possible. Knowingyour purpose, understanding of audience, development of a message, identification of

presentation method, and integration of various media are all important in

development a presentation strategy.

In addition, there are eight golden rules, although sound and simple, but you need

long years to fully practice them. Body language is fascinating. And you can practice

just about anywhere. Even if you make a commitment to follow these rules to the

extent you can, you have already improved your presentation ability.

6.9 KEY WORDS

Presentation: A presentation is a commitment by the presenter to help the audience to

do something to solve a problem.

Presentation Structure: It relates to the three main phases of a presentation, opening,

body and closing.

Presentation Strategy: It is a mix of all the presentations variables, like, objectives,

audience profile, message contents, media available, time at the disposal, which are

adjusted to achieve a success.

Presentation Skills: These are the abilities of an individual in making successful

presentations.


17/17

41

Sales Presentation6.10 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

1. What do you understand from the 'structure of a presentation'? Do you need it ina sales presentation? Discuss.

2. What presentation strategy you would adopt if you have to sell personalcomputers, door-to-door?

.

3. "why overall appearance and body language are important, when to a prospectyour contents are more important than anything else"? Discuss.6.11 FURTHER READINGS

1. Ron Hoff, "How to Make Your Next Presentation a Winner", In, StrategicAdvertising Campaignsby Don E. Schultz. (Illinois: NTC Business Books, 1996).

2. R.L. Bhatia, Development Presentations Skills, (New Delhi: Wheeler Publishing,1994).

Documents

Unit-6 Sales Presentation.pdf